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Resident Leadership Academies
Resident Leadership Academies (RLAs) are multi-week training programs for San Diego County residents who want to learn how to improve their local communities. Training sessions focus on topics such as community leadership, crime prevention and safety, land use and active transportation, and healthy food systems.
Residents learn skills and best practices to address the issues that most affect their communities, and they work alongside their neighbors to help improve quality of life where they live. Upon graduation, attendees have new knowledge and access to a support network to help them lead community improvement projects.
RLA Updates and Opportunities
Many individuals and organizations are involved in Resident Leadership Academies across the County. The latest updates can be found on social media.
RLA Curriculum
Those who would like to facilitate an RLA can find the Facilitator/Train the Trainer and Participant materials below. The RLA Curriculum consists of a Participant Manual, modifiable PowerPoints, and various templates and handouts. The curriculum covers subjects such as Community Building Principles, Social Determinants of Health, Land Use and Community Planning, and more.
The County of San Diego currently has two approved RLA curriculums available. For groups funded for a particular RLA session or project, the version of the curriculum to be used will be determined by your funder (see links below). For all other groups, either version, or elements from both, may be used for the trainings.
- 1st Edition Curriculum
1st edition curriculum covers resident-driven community improvement efforts, including community building principles, neighborhood assessment activities and strategies for stakeholder engagement. - 2nd Edition Curriculum
2nd edition curriculum expands on the 1st edition to include embedded activities, reflection questions and content on smoke-free environments and climate change.
Additional RLA Curriculum
- Heat Risk Education Curriculum
The Heat Risk Education Curriculum is a set of PowerPoints and facilitator guides meant to support community leaders and residents involved in community engagement work. The curriculum covers strategies for communicating about global warming and heat risk to the community to motivate behavior change, and covers topics such as global warming, heat illnesses, at-risk groups, prevention, and taking action.
RLA Resources & Opportunities
View the Community Health Improvement Partner's Resident Leadership Academy page for the latest on meetings and trainings.
Bi-Monthly RLA Council Meetings
Meetings to provide additional training, discuss RLA updates, and to engage with other RLA practitioners. Anyone in the RLA network (graduates/residents, facilitators, CBOs and agencies supporting RLA) is welcome and encouraged to attend.
Technical Assistance (TA) for RLA Practitioners
TA is provided by the County to any RLA Practitioner involved with RLAs. TA may consist of assistance with planning of future RLAs, and development, refining, and implementation of Community Improvement Projects (CIPs), for example. For groups funded for a particular RLA session or project, the TA provider will be determined by your funder.
RLA Network Supplemental Training Workshops for Current RLA Practitioners
Supplemental trainings are available to anyone in the RLA network (graduates/residents, facilitators). These trainings focus on expanding leadership skills and offering opportunities for current RLA practitioners to engage with one another. The supplemental trainings may cover, but are not limited to, such topics as: Presentation Skills, Meeting Facilitation, and/or Applying for Resources.
New Facilitator Training/Train the Trainer Seminars
Seminar participants attend 3-4 full days of training, which consist of a detailed review of the curriculum, facilitation practice and tips for RLA planning and coordination. One or more new facilitator trainings per year will be offered through 2019.
Contact us for additional information on any of the resources listed above, or to learn about RLAs happening in your community.
RLA Success Stories
San Diego County Childhood Obesity Initiative Funds New Family Camp in City Heights
Author: Comité Organizador Latino de City Heights
Each year San Diego County Childhood Obesity Initiative releases a Request for Applications for mini-grants addressing policy, system, or environmental changes in support of healthy eating and active living. This year, the Childhood Obesity Initiative had 17 applicants with a request for over $75,000. While funding typically covers 2-3 projects, the Childhood Obesity Initiative was able to fund 8 mini-grant projects this year thanks to a generous gift from the Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan.
The Comité Organizador Latino de City Heights received a Childhood Obesity Initiative grant to help their Formando Niños Campeanes Summer Camp program. Comité Organizador Latino de City Heights is a group of women who are highly committed to the health and education of their community’s children. They advocate for a network of up to 600 Latinx families to whom they offer training and education on health and educational issues.
The purpose of the Formando Niños Campeanes Summer Camp program was to help families form healthy habits and show parents the resources close to home that could help keep their family active and healthy.
This past summer, the families, including 31 children ages 8-12 years old and 20 parents, met every morning from June 20 to July 8 at Colina del Sol Park to experience new activities, including circus games, cooking, community gardening, swimming, boxing, and art. They partnered with Foodshed, Und1sputed Gym, City Heights Library, and City Heights Swim Center and City Heights Community Development Corporation and Fern Street Circus, both Recognized Partners. If the children show interest in any activity, they were supported to continue their participation in it.
One family got their child's library card while they visited City Heights Library. Other families registered their children for swimming classes and others for boxing. This was a great opportunity for everyone to try new activities.
All the activities were enriching for the children and their families, but the most impactful and interesting to the students was the "Community Garden" and the cooking classes; through these activities they were able to explore seasonal crops and sow sunflower sprouts, broccoli, and radish. The youth joined their parents in preparing their own food which encouraged them to try even the vegetables they did not like, such as cauliflower. Once they prepared their cauliflower ceviche, they all loved the activity and commented that they would eat and cook it again. They also learned to prepare oatmeal with chia and avocado with whole wheat toast and sprouts. They also made healthier desserts like mini-pancakes skewers with banana, strawberries, homemade Nutella, and vanilla pudding with grapes and strawberries.
An elderly participant said that this program made her feel young and full of life again. She enjoyed the experience perhaps even more than her granddaughter did.
Many children were not too happy about participating at first, but they would later be the ones to encourage their parents to take them to Comité Organizador Latino de City Heights program.
The Formando Niños Campeanes program connected family members both young and old to experience and discover new activities and meals. It was deemed a success as it improved participants' mental health and self-esteem, increased their physical activity, and piqued their curiosity to discover healthier meal options.
To learn more about the San Diego County Childhood Obesity Initiative visit https://sdcoi.org/.